Avery > Recent Status Updates

"But Prohibition was more than a symbol--it was a means by which the reforming energies of the country were transmuted into mere peevishness."

In other words, Prohibition is not a metaphor. (Sorry.)

"What the nativist mind most resolutely opposed was not so much war itself as cooperation with European governments for any ends at all."

Uh oh

I think (and hope) this book has made me a better reader of poetry, but to be honest I'm not sure I find Empson's argument wholly convincing. He kind of beats you into submission with an endless litany of examples without developing the argument in itself. It doesn't help that he discusses a lot of poets that I've not read. Maybe I'll revisit in a few years.

Finished the 1855 version. Splendid! Now onto the deathbed version.